FP Markets

Regulatory Overview: Founded in 2005, FP Markets is a globally recognised broker regulated by the FSCA in South Africa and several other financial authorities, including:

• The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa – FP Markets (Pty) Ltd (FSP No. 50926)
• The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) – First Prudential Markets Pty Ltd (AFSL No. 286354)
• The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) – First Prudential Markets Ltd (License No. 371/18)
• The Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Seychelles – First Prudential Markets Ltd (License No. SD130)
• The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius – FP Markets Ltd (License No. GB21026264)
• The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) of Kenya – FP Markets Ltd (License No. 103)
• The Financial Services Authority (FSA) of St. Vincent and the Grenadines – FP Markets LLC (Registration No. 126 LLC 2019)

These regulators vary in terms of investor protection standards. The FSCA, ASIC and CySEC are strong regulators that enforce strict compliance standards, including fund segregation, audit requirements, and capital adequacy. The FSA of Seychelles, the FSC of Mauritius and the CMA of Kenya are weaker regulators with varying degrees of oversight. The FSA of St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a financial registrar only and provides no regulatory oversight or customer protection.

FSCA Regulation: South African traders are onboarded under FP Markets (Pty) Ltd, the entity authorised and regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa (FSP Number 50926). This means traders benefit from local regulatory protection, including:

• Segregation of client funds from company operational funds
• Regular audits by independent third parties
• Negative balance protection, ensuring clients cannot lose more than their deposited funds

Stock CFD Trading: South Africa traders will find that while FP Markets claims to offer over 10,000 stock CFDs, this figure mainly applies to Australian clients. For traders using MT5 or cTrader in South Africa, stock availability is limited to around 1,000. MT4 users have access to just 8 stock CFDs. These constraints make FP Markets less appealing to stock-focused traders outside Australia.

Forex and Cryptocurrencies: On a more positive note, FP Markets offers South African traders over 60 currency pairs, covering a wide range of Forex markets. However, the cryptocurrency selection is limited, with only 12 digital assets currently available.

All South African traders are eligible to open an account at FP Markets as long as they meet the minimum deposit requirement of 100 AUD (1200 ZAR). Creating an account is straightforward; the process is fully digital, and accounts are usually ready within one day. FP Markets offers joint and individual accounts.

The Standard and Raw Metatrader accounts require a minimum deposit of 100 AUD and have trading costs around or below the industry average.

Standard Account

The Standard Account is the best option if you are looking for commission-free trading. Spreads are wider than on the Raw Account, usually starting at 1.0 pip, although they can come down to 0 pips with high trade volumes. The minimum deposit is 100 AUD (or equivalent), and 60+ Forex pairs, metals, commodities, and indices are available for trading. This account is not available on TradingView.

Raw Account

This account has tighter spreads (0 pips on the EUR/USD), but a commission of 6 USD round turn per standard lot is charged. The minimum deposit is also set at 100 AUD (or equivalent), so the only real difference between this account and the Standard Account is whether the broker’s fee is charged on the commission or in the spread. However, the costs on the Raw Account are substantially lower. Raw accounts are generally more suited to scalpers and day traders. 

Islamic Swap-free Accounts

Also known as swap-free accounts, Islamic accounts are suited to Muslim clients. In line with Islamic law, they incur no swaps or interest charges on overnight positions. Instead, the account holder is charged an administration fee that is deducted from the account’s balance.

How to open an Islamic swap-free account at FP Markets:

• Open a Standard Account.
• Send a request to customer service to convert your account to an Islamic swap-free option.
• Include an official document showing confirmation of your faith (e.g., a Proof of Faith document from your local mosque) if the evidence is not already included in your ID document.

An admin fee of 5 USD per lot on major currency pairs is charged per night.  However, fees are not charged for the first ten nights of trading and will only be applicable from the eleventh night.

Demo Account

FP Markets offers a demo account with 100,000 virtual funds in your chosen base currency. Demo accounts don’t expire unless they remain inactive for over 30 days.  

FP Markets has its own mobile trading app on iOS and Android, and we liked its layout and ease of use. FP Markets also supports the MT4, MT5, Trading View, and cTrader mobile apps.

FP Markets Mobile App

We found that the FP Markets Trading App connected to our MT4 account easily, and its clean interface made it very simple to use. It ran smoothly, even on older Android phones, and beginner traders will like the simplified layout compared to the MT4 and MT5 apps.

Key Features:

• Deposit and withdraw funds.
• Make, monitor, and review trades.
• Use the ‘Favourites’ menu to create a faster and seamless trading experience.
• Change settings via the Client Portal
• Access real-time pricing
• Conduct research and analysis using a range of trading tools
• Log in to their MetaTrader 4 account using the same credentials

MT4 and MT5 Mobile Trading

FP Markets offers support for MT4 and MT5 mobile trading apps for Android and iOS. Traders should be aware that there is some loss in functionality when compared to the desktop trading platforms, including reduced time frames and fewer charting options, but traders can close and modify existing orders, calculate profit and loss, and trade on the charts.  

cTrader App

cTrader is one of our favourite trading platforms, and we are glad that FP Markets has added it to its offering. FP Markets is one of a handful of brokers that supports it. Its clean design makes it easy for beginners to pick up, but it also has the advanced order types and automation options required by more experienced traders. The FP Markets’ cTrader app keeps most of the best parts of the desktop version, including the complete range of order types, price alerts, trade analysis, and symbol watchlists.

TradingView

TradingView is not only a trading platform with detailed information to help you make trading decisions: it also includes one of the biggest social trading communities, with plenty of EAs (Expert Advisors) that beginner traders, or those too busy to trade manually, will appreciate. This addition to FP Markets’ tech portfolio and we believe traders of all backgrounds will enjoy TradingView access

There’s a lot you can achieve with TradingView, but these are just a few of its advantages:

• Unmatched charting capabilities, suitable for beginners and advanced traders
• Large social trading community of more than 50 million users
• The ability to design your own indicators and strategies using TradingView’s Pine Script
  programming language
• The option to validate trading ideas using TradingView’s bar-by-bar replay function
• Wide selection of fundamental data
• Real-time global news coverage

On the whole, the toolbox is sophisticated yet simple to use and allows traders to analyse the fast-moving global financial markets with accuracy.

Desktop Trading Platforms

With MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView all available, FP Markets offers support for more trading platforms than most brokers.

FP Markets used to only offer traders MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MetaTrader 5 (MT5), and cTrader, each of which offers Expert Advisors, automated trading support, strategy backtesting, customisable charting, indicators, and copy trading functionality.

All platform choices are free to use, all can be downloaded to your PC or Mac, and all have web versions of the platform. Traders who want more EAs to use, and don’t mind the dated interface, should consider using one of the MetaTrader products. cTrader is often a favourite for beginner traders as it requires less setup, has a more modern interface, and offers more advanced order types. 

FP Markets partnered with TradingView in January 2024. TradingView is a world-renowned charting provider that delivers the financial markets from one platform and has the largest social trading community in the world. Combining Trading View with FP Markets’ consistently tight spreads, rapid market execution, and Institutional-grade liquidity, will help FP Markets clients maximise their trading potential. 

All four trading platforms offered are considered among the best in the industry. FP Markets does not have its own trading platform, but with the four major third-party platforms, most traders will be satisfied.

Trading Tools

FP Markets’ range of trading tools includes Autochartist, a free VPS service, MAM/PAMM accounts, Myfxbook Autotrade, and a Traders Toolbox consisting of 12 online trading tools.  Most of the tools are free of charge, except for the VPS and Traders Toolbox, which require traders to deposit a minimum of 1,000 AUD (or currency equivalent).

Autochartist

Free for all FP Markets clients, Autochartist is one of the best technical analysis tools on the markets. It is an automated technical analysis tool that plugs into MT4 and MT5 and scans all available CFD markets for trading opportunities. Autochartist’s advanced pattern recognition engine identifies the strongest potential trading opportunities and predicts future price movements.

VPS

FP Markets offers a free VPS service to traders who deposit a minimum of 1000 USD or currency equivalent.  The service is also subsidised for high-volume traders who trade over 10 lots a month on the Standard Account, or 20 lots on the Raw Account.  VPS services ensure trades are never disrupted by technological or connectivity issues. Other benefits of the VPS service include:

• 24/6 VPS email support
• 24/7 Redundant power to your VPS
• 24/7 Redundant internet connectivity to your VPS
• Low latency connectivity to FP Markets trading servers for precision trading
• Uninterrupted EA trading

MAM/PAMM Accounts

FP Markets offers an account management service to its clients, which allows account managers to trade on their behalf.  In order to perform this service, bespoke technology or software is required, also known as MAM/PAMM. 

MAM stands for Multi-Account Manager, which permits a range of customisable ways to sub-allocate trades.  PAMM stands for Percentage Allocation Module Manager, which means investors can be part of a set of sub-accounts that are traded together by a money manager or trader who has permission from clients to trade on their accounts.  Account Managers take a portion of the profits generated by the trades.  

Copytrading

FP Markets offers an excellent copy trading service through a third-party provider, Myfxbook Autotrade.  It allows traders to find, follow and copy successful traders automatically. To use the service, traders need to open a Standard Account and make a minimum deposit of 1,000 USD. Traders are charged an additional 0.5 pips in service fees on top of the standard spreads, which is relatively high compared to other brokers.

Trading Tools Comparison

Broker

Economic Calendar

Autochartist

Trading Central

Trading View

Free VPS

VPS services are usually offered free with a minimum trade volume, otherwise a monthly subscription fee will apply. VPS services are usually hosted by third-party companies.

FP Markets

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

IG

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

IC Markets

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Due to Anti-Money Laundering policies, FP Markets does not accept payments from third parties and only accepts funds received directly from the named trading account holder. The first time you make a withdrawal, you must complete a downloadable form and return it with a photographic ID. 

Accepted Deposit Currencies: The FP Markets client portal allows traders to deposit funds in 10 currencies, including AUD, USD, EUR, GBP, SGD, CAD, CHF, HKD, and JPY. South African traders will be disappointed that ZAR is not an option, as they will have bank accounts denominated in ZAR and will have to pay conversion fees, which may affect profitability.

Withdrawal Fees: FP Markets does not charge any internal withdrawal fees. However, please be aware that payments to and from overseas banking institutions may incur intermediary transfer fees charged by banks, and other payment options may charge a commission. Any such fees will be the responsibility of the client. 

See below for deposit and withdrawal methods, costs and processing times.

FP Markets’ education section is pretty good compared to most other large international brokers. However, some of it is reserved for registered clients only.  The content available is suited to both beginner and more experienced traders

FP Markets provides a range of educational materials, including ebooks, tutorials, video tutorials, webinars, and a glossary.  The educational material focuses on the wider CFD industry, including tutorials on trading stocks, indices, and commodities:

• eBooks: FP Markets offers a range of comprehensive ebooks that provide detailed information on the important aspects of forex, including money management, trading systems, and volatility.  Other topics include technical and fundamental analysis, along with tips on how to spot trading opportunities. 
• Video Tutorials: FP Markets provides a number of videos to introduce forex traders to the MetaTrader platforms.  These videos serve as a step-by-step guide for those who want to learn to trade on MT4, MT5, TradingView and cTrader.
• Glossary: The glossary provides comprehensive definitions and explanations of various financial terms.
• Webinars: FP Markets hosts regular webinars that are held by its team of in-house professional traders.  The webinars cater to traders of all experience levels and include topics such as Trading Psychology, Chart Psychology, Advanced Fibonacci Strategies, and How to Backtest a Trading Strategy.   
• Trading for beginners: We expect that beginners will feel comfortable starting their trading career with FP Markets. The demo account never expires, the education section is varied, and market analysis is available both in video and article formats. Customer service is available 24/7, and we were impressed by the quality of support we received.

Education Comparison

Broker

Beginner Course

Advanced Course

Well Structured Education

Education Quality

Webinars

FP Markets

Yes

No

Yes

High

Yes

IG

Yes

Yes

Yes

High

Yes

IC Markets

Yes

Yes

Yes

High

Yes

The market research and analysis at FP Markets is about what we would expect from a large international broker. The analysis is available in both article and video format and is published daily.

FP Markets’ analysis section covers both technical and fundamental analysis:

• Daily Report: FP publishes a daily market report covering all the financial markets and a weekly outlook (in video and text format). The daily market report is a brief look at the global markets, including commodities, indices, and Forex.
• Market Insights: FP Markets provides trading ideas for the most popular financial assets in various timeframes.
• Technical Report: A technical report is published weekly, covering the various market movements and how these affect the related financial assets.  The report is in-depth and very detailed.
• Forex News: In this section, articles are published less frequently but cover all the major market events.
• Daily Analysis: Articles are published on a daily basis covering various global events and how they influence the markets.
• Currency Point: Articles are published on a weekly basis and cover the various currency movements.  

Customer support is available 24/7 via live chat, email, and telephone. Weekend support is limited to 08:00 – 16:00. Available laguages include Italian, English, Russian, French, Arabic, German, and Chinese.

We found the customer service responsive (our questions were answered immediately), polite, and very knowledgeable.